Hmm... not overly-excited about the new maxifigs, but I am very curious how Sir Kentis (who is that... the successor to Santis or the predecessor...!?!) and his mace with translate to minifig format. It's high time for a minifig-mace!

EDIT>> Not to mention Karzon...

Knight Templar n. pl. Knights Templars or Knights Templar1.A member of an order of knights founded about 1118 to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade.

This looks promising. Some new interesting weapons and the figs overall look like they could end up really nice, both in colour and heraldry. I´ll just have my fingers crossed for better helmets and swords...

1. Those cool slope pieces they use as armor looks like they will come in metallics. My space ships will sparkle!

2. The mini-fig versions. If you look back at the first two lines of maxi-figs (I really don't like that term...) and compare them to the corresponding minifigs you can see how lego did stick pretty true to form and color. Many of the patterns were the same, the visors were pretty much exactly the same, the shields will be different shapes, but the heraldry should be about the same, the colors will correspond nicely, and most importantly: the weapons will probably correspond. Now, I don't expact to see any new weapon sculpts, but I do expect to see lego doing something they usually don't... brick built weapons. With the exception of the ball and chain, I could build all those weapons out of bricks. And, if we're lucky, those bricks might be silver or chrome (or, if we've been really good this year, antiqued). Might be cool to see if they use only the euro armor, or perhaps a) make a new sculpt, or b) use other armors, like the samurai armor in new colors, or c) stick to new torso designs, or d) again, if we've been really good this year, they might do a combination of those things!

I'm with Recluce - I think that the bigfigs could portend great things in the minifig department. I think Kentis' helmet if done minifig scale will become one of my favorites.
My son loves the bigfigs and thinks they are awesome (of course - he is the exact age group for them).
one thing I find interesting about them is the way the body is molded on the bigfigs... they seem to have maille molded right into the body, painted silver for the good guys and black for the bad. While I dont see this transfering over to the minifigs, we may end up with some interesting armor, or at the very least some interesting torso paints.

These certainly are an improvement on last year's assortment. More importantly, they may be an indicator as to what the KKII, year 3 minifigs (the one's everybody really cares about) look like.

There are a number of positives here

1) The armour: Finally, we have some helmets that look somewhat useful! Unlike earlier KKII figs (excluding the shadow knights of course), these helmets look far less like Bionicle masks, and more like conventional helmets. Heck, it looks like we may finally get the Great Helm so many fans have been clamouring for!

2) The heraldry: Far more conventional than monkeys and scorpions, the unicorn, dragon, bull, and snake are sure to please many fans. This heraldry is more consistant with what we were given in the 80s and 90s.

3) The colours: This is probably the most notable change. Unlike previous releases, this year's knights are armed in more conventional colours. The armour here is black, unfinished, or russeted. With any luck, these finishes will carry over to the minifig line. Perhaps we'll see some armour in pearl grey, or a flaked metallic finish. Either way, these colours are a refreshing change from the current KKII lineup.

4) Weapons: A flail? A mace!? Is it possible that these weapons will be included with the minifig counterparts? After two years of power-swords, it certainly would be nice to see some new weapons.

Overall, the maxifigs suggest that this line is heading in the right direction. Hopefully we will see similar improvement with the minifig sets as well.

However, its kinda sad that they seem to be going more and more toward big stuff. Take King Jakyo and his weapon? Not only is just a fig sold, now they are selling large scale seige equipment. Also, it irks me that Vladek is still the bad guy.

Another thing that I dislike about this is how it follows bionicle. Think about. In bionicle they had the first set of heros, then the same bunch again, in new, cooler, armour. Then the scraped them and invented a whole new bunch of dudes. I see the same thing happening here. Sad really.

I just found that they are also available on S@H now.
Important notes:

S@H, Vladek's page wrote: More powerful than ever!

Evil Lord Vladek is out for revenge! With sword-slashing action and a working catapult, the sinister Scorpion Knight leads the Rogue Knights deep into the Mistlands of Morcia. Armed with enhanced armor and an all-new sword of dark sorcery, Vladek is determined to capture the tower’s magic for himself – no matter the cost!

S@H, Dracus' page wrote:Rogue Knight commander!

Dracus is the mighty Rogue Knight of the Dragon. As leader of the Rogue Knight horde, this scarred warrior is rough, tough and cruel. He’s led a hundred armies into battle, and thanks to his Rogue iron armor and slashing dragon-claw sword, he’s never known defeat!

Conclusion: Dracus and Karzon are the Rogue Knights whom people have been waiting for since last year. This is looking quite possitive.

I first saw these guys back in October, when the illegal pictures were released, but they were vague catalogue scans only. Now we have complete CGI pics with proper backgrounds.

The Rogue Knights...what can I say apart from 'cool'? Man, both Karzon and Dracus look great. I like the grizzled, worn, hard look their armour and weapons have, in comparison with the glossy black and red of the Shadow Knights. Also, the weapons look more realistic and original, with a flail (this'll make the translation to minifig form, I hope) and broader shields. The actual animal heraldry looks much better this time around, as well. Instead of the foreign-looking monkeys of the first and second year, we've got more European (Castle is set here, after all, with the possible exception of Ninja) styled animals, with horses, bulls and dragons as some of the new seals. In fact, I think these guys are in the running for the coolest bad guys in the entire Castle theme.

The Hero Knights...not quite as impressive as the baddies, but this might be just because evil is more intriguing and impressive than good. But I definately like them. Adric has a certain Celtic feel about him, with the green colouring and the wild horse as his heraldry. I like his mace, and the helm, if done right, will be a great minifig helmet, like most of the 2006 Knights, in fact. Kentis, in contrast with Adric, feels more English, with the red colouring and the medieval-style helm. The axe looks interesting, too. So whilst they're not on the same level as the Rogue Knights, I still like them a lot.

Lord Vladek...imposing. A new cloak, and a wicked-looking sword as well. The armour is also unique, being quite dark and tarnished like the Rogue Knights, but with the same heraldry and colouring as the Shadow Knights. Whilst I'm still not pleased that Vladek's back again the second time, Lego has at least earned back some credibility with the great design.

King Jayko...incredible. I love the golden colour on his armour, and the new sword. The face is also interesting, as it appears that Jayko's changed a great deal, from a reckless young rookie to a dignified and powerful King. He's also grown a beard . If this guy looks as great in minifig form as he does here, then I think there might be a new contender for the best king in Castle. Look out, King Richard, King Leo and King Mathias: there's a new (though a bit older) kid on the block!